re:publica Vienna
2-3 October 2026
Kulturhaus Brotfabrik
The first re:publica Vienna will bring Europe's most important festival for digital society, politics, technology, and culture to Austria on October 2-3, 2026.
The event is co-organised and curated by the Momentum Institute as the local host and takes place in cooperation with the Kulturhaus Brotfabrik.
The aim is to establish a new, permanent flagship event in the German-speaking world – with a clear focus on democratic, progressive, digital, feminist, and socio-political issues.
Both partners are contributing their individual strengths and networks: The Moment.at online magazine from the Momentum Institute stands for independent, fact-based journalism from a clearly democratic perspective. The medium analyzes political power relations, social inequality, and economic interests, classifies digital and social developments, and makes complex contexts understandable – in a pointed, opinionated, and debate-friendly manner. re:publica is the largest conference of its kind in Europe. For almost 20 years, the festival for the digital society stands for debate and exchange on the increasingly rapid pace of digitalization, its impact on the transformation of society , on the economy, art, and culture, and on the shift in political dynamics.
The merger of the two brands re:publica and Moment.at will create a new annual event for democratic debate and society in the digital age, as well as a unique platform for science, activism, media, and politics in Austria. The new event format will not only raise the profile of Vienna as a progressive city of innovation, but also provide a meeting place for hundreds of participants from Austria, Germany, and Central and Eastern Europe.
From October 2-3, 2026, re:publica Vienna will transform the Kulturhaus Brotfabrik into a venue for debates and keynotes with international speakers. An open barcamp will integrate bottom-up ideas and community expertise. Parties and concerts in the evening will round off the program.
The program focuses on the most important questions surrounding digital power, democratic public discourse, and social change, specifically:
- How are platforms, AI, and algorithms changing political opinion-forming, media, and elections?
- Who owns the digital infrastructure and who benefits from it?
- How can democracy, fundamental rights, and feminism be defended and expanded in the digital space?
- What role do the media play between disinformation, economic pressure, and democratic responsibility?
- How can activism, science, and politics respond effectively to social inequality, the climate crisis, and authoritarianism?
- What political rules does the digital society need—and who enforces them?
In short, it's about how we want to live together democratically, in solidarity, and fairly in a digitalized world—and who decides that.
Further information on the program and confirmed speakers will follow shortly.